100 Levels
by RizuMcButt
Summary: 100 word challenge! Done just for fun. A straight fag of a wizard and a grumpy and vaguely confused mage try to survive each other's company.
1. Level 001: Introduction

**Level 1: Introduction**

He wasn't really sure where he was, but he didn't like it very much. There were no plush cushions... definitely no velvet curtains. Not a wheel of expensive cheese in sight. These were the things that he was used to, but not the things he was seeing in his immediate surroundings. He could hear a stream off not too far away, swelled with the current downpour, of which was soaking the already spongy forest floor around him. The constant drip sounded irritatingly in his ears; he remembered being told that the sound could be soothing and therapeutic, but he only felt damp.

Tobias sat with his back to the rough tree bark of an oak, knees to his chest and arms wrapped around them. The rain had soaked his bleached-out blond hair to an ugly brown, of which he did not at all approve. It's with a heavy sigh that he finally closed his eyes to rest his chin onto his arms. He might as well try to sleep, as long as travel was going to be so wetly miserable.

His hunched form is still for about ten minutes before a shiver disturbs it. He reaches to pull his tattered brown cloak closer about his form, but it did little to help. And, as if the rain and his thin protection against it weren't bad enough, the breeze was beginning to pick up. And an awfully cold breeze it was. Tobias' blue eyes crack open again to glare at the trees around him. The blame was most certainly on these pieces of greenery, or so his stormy expression proclaimed.

He shifts himself away from the tree, lowering his legs and unwrapping his arms from them. Well, he wasn't a Geffen-trained mage for nothing. If he couldn't help himself in this situation, then he wasn't worth the common gemstone he had needed to pass the test. With a little bit of concentration and a few second's time, Tobias coaxes a tiny flame into his hands. He held it as one would a precious drink of water, but it provided little respite. Well... perhaps it was best to keep walking after all.

With general resentment for all forms of weather, Tobias quenches the flame with a clutch of his hand and struggles to his feet. He takes only a few seconds to check each direction before picking on and starting off. An observer may have taken it to be a glance to orientate himself, but that would be a mistake, of course. Tobias had no idea where he was going. He hadn't known for quite a while now. But he kept going, because he was pretty sure that that was the best thing to do.

And so he pulled his soaking cloak closer to him and moved on. Maybe he could find somewhere more comfortable to spend the evening than that tree trunk; maybe he could even find somewhere out of the rain. He didn't have enough money to spend the night in an inn, even if he found one, but things could be worse. If there was one thing he'd learned so far, it was that things could always be worse. If he started moping, he felt certain that thunder would join nature's happy symphony, and lightning would probably throw its two cents in as well. And, knowing his luck, he would be seen to be the tallest thing in this forest. Even as the thoughts crossed his mind, the distant rumble of thunder found his ears, and he cursed under his breath.

Lost in unpleasant narration as he was, Tobias didn't see the light bobbing its way through the dying daylight towards him. It was almost upon him by the time he registered it and spun to face whatever horrible creature it belonged to. He was already bringing up the words to a spell that would be, with any luck, useful, when he noticed the shape that accompanied the bobbing light. It wasn't monstrous at all. In fact, it looked quite distinctly human. Tobias scowled, magic ready to defend himself but carefully held. "Hello?" His own voice sounded pathetic, even to himself.

"Hello!" came a cheery reply, and Tobias dropped his hand to his side. It was a human. As far as he knew, there had been no monsters yet discovered with the gift of speech. As the bearer of the voice came nearer, the mage saw that the light bobbing was a spell. In fact, he recognized it, and had used it himself a few times. A small ball of fire danced around the man as he walked, almost with a mind of its own. He watched with envy: there was certainly no way that he would have enough energy to keep something like that continuously active.

"And who are you?" came the voice again, and this time Tobias could clearly see its owner. It was a cheerful face, brown hair slicked back neatly and kept well manicured. Although the face was clearly male, ornate designs around the eyes seemed quite feminine. Tobias didn't know any men that would be caught dead wearing make-up, but he supposed that there was a first time for everything... He took his own sweet time to examine this new arrival to his personal space bubble before bothering to answer.

"Tobias," he muttered, just loud enough to be heard over the rain. And as an afterthought, "Tobias Rinehart, of Geffen."

Although he had made no inquiry as to the identity of his stranger, the man stuck out a hand to shake. "Sarum, also of Geffen!" is the introduction to accompany it. Brown eyes squinted from under the colors--somehow unmarred despite the rain--as the man looked closer. "Never seen you there before, though."

"It's a big city." Tobias didn't want company. He didn't want to know this man's name. And he definitely didn't want to have to shake his hand. Shaking hands seemed like giving an unwanted guest an open door. But he wasn't lowering that offending limb, and so Tobias reached after a few seconds to take it.

The man's grip was firm, and he pumped Tobias' unwilling hand a few times before surrendering it again. Tobias took it back sullenly and half hid it behind his back to wipe it on his wet cloak. The man didn't seem to notice. "Guess not!" he was saying, still cheerful. He obviously hadn't caught that the mage didn't want any company. "Well anyway, I haven't been there in a while, so I guess I can't expect to know everyone."

Tobias grunted an answer and wondered how best to escape this encounter. He could claim to be going the opposite direction of whichever way this man was headed... although he had already seen Tobias walking, and might think it odd of him if the continuation was not the same as the original. 'Well, you see,' Tobias imagined himself explaining, 'I've forgotten my cat. Yes, a few miles back, I think. So I'll have to double back and leave you to yourself, so sorry.'

As he thought, he found himself studying the other's clothing. He wore a long cloak, similar to his own, but far more ornate. That fact brought a scowl to Tobias' face. The stranger probably had money to spare. He was probably going some place warm, to enjoy a fresh meal and sleep in a comfortable bed.

Gold trimming caught Tobias' eye in particular, and he could see bright red cloth beneath the white cloak. That looked quite like a wizard's uniform. Wizard: most young mages' goal. To achieve status in the wizard's guild was quite an honor. The observation stirred Tobias' memory. He blinked a few times, trying to bring its association to the surface. But it didn't come, and after a few seconds he forced himself to drop it. There were a great many things he only half-remembered, and he had long since learned to give up when he felt he saw or experienced something familiar. It was about at that point that he realized the man was speaking again.

"Er, what?" he found himself saying. No matter how much he would prefer to be on his own, ingrained manners would not let him simply ignore another person.

"I said," Sarum repeated carefully, "Where are you going?"

"Um." Tobias glanced up at the rainy leaves above him, searching for a suitable answer. The first city in his mind was spoken, "Umbala," but it only earned him a strange look from the wizard.

"Umbala?" Tobias nodded his confirmation, and even as he stared skeptically, the other clapped his hands to renew the light dancing around him. It had begun to flicker out. Tobias found himself appreciating its warmth, and took a discreet step forward. "My friend, you are _way _off from Umbala. You know that's nearly on the other side of the continent, right?"

Wrong answer. Tobias mentally made a face and externally shook his head. "Umbala? No, sorry. I meant to say, uh, Payon." The forested city was much closer. He was pretty sure it was much closer. ...He was in a forest, anyway. It had to empty out into Payon at some point. Apparently this was an acceptable response, because Sarum nodded with a smile.

"Ah, yes! City of archers, is it? Well it just so happens that I'm headed there myself!"

No, no, wrong answer again. Even more wrong than before. Tobias silently cursed the fact that it was too late to change his answer again, because the man hadn't stopped talking to give him the chance.

"In fact, this is quite a happy chance that I've found you!" he was saying. "My friend split from me a few days ago, and I've been pretty bored since. You don't mind finishing off the trip with me, do you?"

"Well, actually, I--" Tobias started to protest, but Sarum wasn't paying attention.

"Great! Company always passes the time so much faster, don't you think?" And to Tobias' great horror the man stepped forward with that and draped an overly friendly arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let's get going! With this light we can keep going for a few more hours before we have to sleep." The mage felt his face pale under his tanned skin. Of course the rain, the cold wind, and the thunder had not been enough to sufficiently torture him. Of course not. No, some god had to throw this man his way. He bit his lip and made himself walk. It was walk or be dragged by this enthusiastic stranger, it seemed.

But, why him? Why was it _always _him?


	2. Level 002: Love

**Level 2: Love**

"You shouldn't eat those."

Tobias stared up at the wizard with a rather untrusting frown. He shouldn't be staring up at the man, and the man _definitely _should not be eating foreign objects.

"I'm hungry," Sarum returned, as if that made it better. "And these don't look so bad." He stretched from his perch on the thick bough of the tree to reach for one of the peaches that hung above him. Tobias was instinctively suspicious of that which nature had to offer, but Sarum didn't seem to share this common sense. He looked on warily as the man strained for the fruit, just out of reach. It wasn't likely that Sarum's arms were going to grow any, and Tobias didn't think he was going to manage to get this particular treat.

"You can't even reach it," he accused with a glare and arms folded over his chest. "Come on, get down here. I thought you were in a hurry to get to Payon?"

"Well, not a hurry, per say," Sarum absently replied. He was intent on the peach above him. "Anyway, not enough of a hurry to bypass a peach tree. I _love_ peaches." Tobias only rolled his eyes. Flighty, impetuous, and _greedy_. Could fate have flung a more irritating companion at him? He thought not.

He opened his mouth to complain further, but Sarum suddenly pulled back with a devious look to him. "Hey, kid, come here a little closer."

Tobias frowned to be addressed so casually; they were about the same age, weren't they? That hardly seemed fair. But he moved closer nonetheless. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just do it." When Sarum judged Tobias to be close enough, he looked back up to the fruit again. He closed one eye and pointed a finger at the fruit. "Make sure you catch it," he warned. "If you miss and it bruises on the ground, I'll kill you."

Death threats, already? This was only day two of their time together. And shouldn't _he_ be the one making the death threats? Tobias' scowl darkened, but he held out his hands to show readiness. He watched as the wizard took careful aim. With a whispered word, a flash of sparks and a few tongues of flame leapt from his finger towards the fruit. It missed the fruit, but that wouldn't be Sarum's target. Roasted fruit tended to lose its charm. Tobias found himself vaguely impressed to see the spell meet its target: the stem. The fruit fell, neatly severed, and Sarum crowed in triumph as Tobias caught it.

But no sooner had the fruit hit his hands then Tobias shouted in pain and dropped it. The thing hit the ground with a hard thud, and Sarum's noise of protest was immediate.

"Oh, come on! You _had_ it!"

"It's as solid as a rock!" Tobias returned, wringing his hands. "That _hurt_! Get another one if you have to, and try to get one that's ripe this time."

Sarum twisted his painted face into a grimace of displeasure and began to climb higher, searching for another target, while Tobias turned his attention to the fruit at his feet. It didn't look particularly bruised... in fact, it didn't look very much like any peach he'd ever seen before at all. It was... shiny? He leaned down to look closer, and had just time enough to note that its surface was multi-faceted like a gem's before there was another shout from above him.

"Monkey!" Sarum shouted. Tobias looked up again to see the man clinging to the trunk of the tree. "Shit, that thing scared me!"

A small brown animal had appeared on the branch just next to his head. It now bared its teeth at him menacingly, and Sarum returned the look.

"Hey, Sarum, I don't think this is a peach tree..." Tobias started, but the wizard wasn't listening. He'd already aimed his finger-gun at the creature.

"Get out of here," he grumbled, and shot off another sparking fire at it. The thing disappeared with a screech, but a second later a hard pit came flying from the leaves. It hit Sarum's shoulder, who grunted in pain, and Tobias' blue eyes grew wide.

"Sarum, get out of that tree," he said, voice slightly raised in urgency. Hearing that tone of it, the wizard glanced down at the junior magic-user with some amount of surprise. His lips parted to ask 'why', but the word never made it past his throat.

At that moment the branch on which he had been standing twisted violently. At the same time another came in from the side. It caught Sarum's middle and sent him flying out of the tree. He hit the ground with a thump (almost like the noise the rock hard peach had made, Tobias noticed) and lay still. But Tobias' attention wasn't on Sarum. The knots in the tree trunk had rearranged themselves--or perhaps they had always looked like that and Tobias had only just noticed?--into a face. It looked rather like an old man's, although the mouth, open in a scream that was just now beginning to sound, was far wider than any old man's Tobias had yet seen.

Tobias stumbled backwards hastily. All of the branches were thrashing by now, and a few more monkey faces had appeared in the tree branches. A rain of pits fell onto them, and the mage fell quickly to Sarum's side.

"Get up!" he commanded, shaking the man's shoulder, who groaned. "Come on, let's go!"

They were just out of the tree's reach, but as Tobias watched it was tugging its thick roots out of the ground. It seemed pretty intent on thrashing them. Sarum pushed himself up with painfully narrowed eyes.

"Shit," was all he could say, and rubbed his head. Tobias tugged desperately on his cloak with eyes on the tree. That face was so _loud_. And the monkeys added their own noise to it, which made the situation no better. "I didn' know tha' tree wus _alive_," Sarum added in a grumbled slur. He struggled to his feet, Tobias pulling on his arm the whole way, and the two made their stumbling way away from the violence of the local flora and fauna.

The tree seemed to forget them when they got far enough away. They were out of range of the monkey's precise aim as well, and as Tobias watched it went to bury its roots back into the ground. Next to him, obviously still dazed, Sarum began to laugh. Tobias tossed a glare over at him, but the man could only giggle and rub his head.

"I love peaches," the wizard said through his gaiety. "I really do."


	3. Level 003: Light

**Level 3: Light**

Sarum had mostly recovered from the tree's attack by dusk. He raised the little ball of fire to dance around them for light as they began their evening hike, until finally they had come to a stop on the side of a small pond. Mosquitoes, Tobias thought sourly. They would just be living buffets for the little demons. It was this distracting thought that had kept him awake, leaned up against a tree trunk. He could tell from Sarum's spell that the man was very nearly asleep. It had grown weaker and weaker, and even as he watched it sputtered and died. But Tobias wouldn't sleep. He slapped at his arms any time he thought he felt the tell-tale tickle of an insect landing on his skin, and just as quickly wiped the offending slime onto the grass next to him.

But the mosquitoes seemed to know that Tobias would have to sleep at some point. The little tiny paranoia attacks came less and less often, as if the army waiting for him to sleep was less and less willing to incur more causalities. After a while, Tobias' eyes felt heavy. He allowed his head to droop down onto his chest. He would still feel any bloodsuckers landing on his body...

The sounds of the nighttime forest began to drift away. A city seemed to replace them. Tobias' weary mind accepted this as fact. He was headed to Payon, wasn't he? It was about time that he got there.

The cool green shade of the city provided excellent respite from the heat of the summer day. Hadn't it just been autumn, though...? No, of course not. It was summer now, so it must have been summer before as well. A mosquito landed on his arm in the dark, and he twitched a hand at it to kill it. His hand felt very heavy, though. He dropped it to his side again and forgot all about it. He wouldn't be using his hand for a while anyway.

Cicadas sounded around him. They lived in the trees of Payon, didn't they? The inhabitants found them soothing, if they even noticed them all, but to Tobias they were only obnoxious. Insistent, shrill creatures... somewhat like Sarum. But Sarum wasn't here... who was he, again?

Tobias focused on the scene around him. There was a merchant and his shop here and there, but for the most part the area was full of people. They talked in small groups, in twos and threes, and sometimes in parties as large as 20. Going to hunt some powerful creature, no doubt. Tobias only smiled at them all. 'Powerful' was a relative term. What, to them, might seem strong enough to warrant a 20-man adventure, would be barely cause for alarm to him. He was confident in his abilities.

A little girl approached the stump on which he sat. Her high voice rang out in a question, and he lazily answered it. It was right that people should come to him with questions. He was not only powerful, but intelligent. His guild was renowned for their knowledge. Some thought them arrogant about it, but was it really arrogance if what they prided themselves on was prided for a reason? It was a matter still up to dispute.

But that didn't matter to Tobias. He surveyed his domain with a king's eye. He was unquestioned here. People knew him and respected him here. It was comfortable.

The scene shifted. It was darker now. Twilight? No... no, darker than that. Nighttime. But he wasn't worried about mosquitoes, because there wouldn't be any down here. He was deep beneath Payon; he didn't have to be able to see his surroundings to know that. He just was. There were old and discarded buildings around him. There had been a city here at one point... why it was gone, not even his guild knew. Some things were lost to time.

The place was now haunted, but he wasn't afraid of ghosts. He and his friends weren't afraid of anything down here. They were cocky. Arrogant.

Arrogance. There it was again. But you're not arrogant if you really _are_ strong, or wise, or talented, right?

But there were some things that they could not have predicted. They could not have prepared for them; never have been armed properly.

The darkness was pressing in on him now. It was

suffocating

extinguishing

He felt desperation, not only for himself but for those with him. They were in trouble. Dying? (Some of them are already dead?) The darkness was even nearer. It was so close, like a coat around his mouth and nose. He couldn't breathe. (Keep casting. Keep working your magic.) That was the only way to get out.

But there were so many things going on, he couldn't concentrate. His spells were

interrupted

almost even before he could start them.

And the darkness. The darkness. It had teeth, he was sure of it. They clutched at his ankles and he couldn't run. He watched as a priest next to him fell. (Body limp like a bloody rag doll's.) He took a deep breath to fill his lungs, but he breathed in only darkness. The teeth. The darkness had teeth. Terrible, ripping, shredding teeth. They would grab hold of him and tear him into so many pieces...

"Hey!"

Tobias' eyes snapped open. Light flooded in around him. He immediately squinted and reached a hand up to ward off some of the brightness. "Huh...?"

"You were groaning or something." It was Sarum's face in front of him, and Tobias dazedly focused on it. The wizard's face was in a wide grin. "Dreaming about some pretty lady?"

"What? No..." Tobias frowned on principle. What had he been dreaming about? He couldn't quite remember. It was on the edge of his mind, but he couldn't quite reach it... probably not a pretty lady though. He took a deep breath and was somewhat surprised to find himself gasping for air.

Sarum didn't notice though. He had already turned away to pack up his scattered belongings. He rambled on about Payon and the various attractions and things to do there. Tobias shook his head to clear out the eerie feeling the dream had left behind. He had never been quite so glad to see the morning so bright.


End file.
